How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
"Are you afraid of who you really are, Luce?"
"No," Luce said again quickly. It must be so obvious that she was lying. She closed her eyes. All she wanted from Sword & Cross was a fresh start, a place where people didn't look at her the way Arriane was looking at her right now. (1.108-109)
Luce's desperation to get away from her past—rather than own it and move forward from it—is very apparent here. She sees Sword & Cross as a clean slate, a place where she can remake herself and forget the horrors of her past. What Luce doesn't seem prepared for is the fact that everyone here has his or her own horrors, and everyone is pretty big on sharing.
Quote #2
"What about your faith in the power of transformation?" Cam asked, fingering the shed skin. "That's what we're here for, after all." (7.70)
Cam's words have a clear double meaning, especially given the imagery of him holding a snakeskin. He could even be alluding to Luce's entanglement in all of these events, given that he knows that she transforms every seventeen years into a new version of herself. But for now, Luce can infer that he's talking about transforming into a better person, one who doesn't have guilt crushing his or her conscience.
Quote #3
After Trevor died, not a week had gone by without a hate letter finding its way to Luce. Her parents started trying to vet the mail before she could read the poisonous stuff, but too much of it still reached her…She thought she'd done so much to move on from that nightmare: leaving her past behind when she came to Sword & Cross, focusing on her classes, making friends…Soon, surely the same types of people who'd come for Trevor's death would come to her again…Just like before, she'd be expected to have the whole story pieced together, to remember every single detail. But of course, just like before, she wouldn't be able to." (11.60-64)
Sometimes, no matter how much you want redemption, there are going to be other people who solely want to mete out punishment for the wrongs they feel need to be righted. Part of Luce's fear over Todd's death is that she is again going to be accused for something she had no idea happened and had no part in.